Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Essex Property Trust by 3.2% during the first quarter, owning approximately 33,425 shares valued at about $10.25 million.
• Essex Property Trust recently announced a quarterly dividend of $2.57 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $10.28 and a yield of 4.0%.
• Analysts have mixed views on Essex Property Trust, with one sell rating, eleven hold ratings, and seven buy ratings, alongside a consensus target price of $308.26.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,425 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.05% of Essex Property Trust worth $10,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Essex Property Trust in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Essex Property Trust during the first quarter worth approximately $82,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Essex Property Trust by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Essex Property Trust by 52.9% in the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth $152,000. 96.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Essex Property Trust Stock Performance

ESS traded up $1.90 on Tuesday, reaching $253.98. The company had a trading volume of 281,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 493,164. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.85 and a 1 year high of $317.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $280.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $284.83.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $4.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.99 by $0.04. Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 43.51% and a return on equity of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $465.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $2.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $10.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Essex Property Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.64%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ESS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Essex Property Trust from $301.50 to $305.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $355.00 to $275.00 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Scotiabank set a $309.00 price target on shares of Essex Property Trust and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $315.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on Essex Property Trust from $314.00 to $293.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.91.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.